


Scars on the Body, Scars on the Heart

by SilverKitsune



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26473834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune/pseuds/SilverKitsune
Summary: Written for i7 Rarepair Week Days 2 and 3: Illness/Injury/Koi no Kakera and Secrets/Gekijou“What is it?” Carnelian gently asked. The internal struggle was clear from the way Lazu opened and closed his mouth a few times to speak.But when he finally did, he said it barely above a whisper, “Why haven't you punished me?”
Relationships: Carnelian/Lazu (IDOLiSH7), Izumi Mitsuki/Yotsuba Tamaki
Kudos: 10
Collections: IDOLiSH7 Rarepairs Week 2020





	Scars on the Body, Scars on the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is set post-Hoshimeguri event story, so here there be spoilers for that (since Carnelian and Lazu's backstories are ... kind of walking spoilers once you get into the story). But I love their relationship, so clearly Rarepair Week is my chance to write for them again! This fic combines both Day 2 and Day 3 prompts, specifically Injury, Koi no Kakera, and Secrets. (Even if it is a ... revealed secret since it got revealed in the event story.)

_Tick tock_

A yawn, followed by a stretch. Carnelian glanced up from his book on chess strategy to spot Lazu turning back to his reading – a book on historical weaponry on Lama, if he recalled correctly, a gift from Orion on his last visit here.

_Tick tock_

A sudden movement, and this time, Carnelian was sure he caught Lazu nodding off. He glanced over to the clock on the wall – it was well after midnight.

Slipping a bookmark into his own book, he set it down on the table for another night. Pulling the blanket tighter over his shoulders, he turned to Lazu. “Lazu, let's go to bed.”

Lazu looked up, and shook his head. “No, it's alright. I want to finish reading this part tonight. You can go first, My Lord.”

Carnelian sighed. “Lazu, what did I say when we moved in here?”

“That you're no longer a king,” Lazu recited, he paused, before he continued with a mumble. “And that I should call you Carnelian. Sire.”

A beat passed between them, and Lazu added, “Old habits.”

Close enough, Carnelian thought. “Exactly. And I've caught you yawning and nodding off for the past half hour so why don't you come to bed with me?”

The silence stretched between them, an awkward silence that had become all too common ever since Carnelian had decided to abdicate the throne and retire here to the Alban countryside.

But Carnelian had had enough, and decided it was high time he took matters into his own hands – that was what he'd declared back there, that he'd make his own dreams come true with his own hands. He approached Lazu, holding the blanket together with one hand while taking the book out of Lazu's hands.

From the look on Lazu's face, it was clear he hadn't really been reading the words on the page at all, just staring at it to avoid talking to Carnelian. “Unless something is bothering you?”

There was a flash of _something_ in Lazu's eyes before he looked away. More than enough of a tell, as far as Carnelian was concerned, and he knelt down in front of Lazu.

“What is it?” He gently asked. The internal struggle was clear from the way Lazu opened and closed his mouth a few times to speak.

But when he finally did, he said it barely above a whisper, “Why haven't you punished me?”

Carnelian blinked. As far as he was concerned, Lazu did his job well. Too well, even, if Carnelian was being honest – Lazu had served and given everything for the throne, that much Carnelian was sure of. If anything, Carnelian was sure the failure here was him – the weak failure of a prince who kept the throne only because he “was better than the old king who was a warmongering murderer”.

Except he hadn't really managed to avoid that, did he, with everything he did under the Shard's influence?

“What for? You haven't done anything wrong.”

“But I did. When I told your father about Coda.”

Carnelian smiled. So _that's_ what it was. Letting the blanket go, he took one of Lazu's hands into both of his own, and traced the sword callouses on Lazu's palm with a finger.

“And you've done more than enough to make up for it.” Carnelian took Lazu's hand and pulling it up to his cheek, turning it to kiss his palms. Rising, Carnelian let Lazu's hand drop to his hip as he slid into Lazu's space and reached to unbutton his shirt.

“Sire, what-”

“This,” Carnelian traced a long horizontal scar on Lazu's collarbone with a finger. “From that time when we were kids, just before my father took me to Eternia, and I was just the useless crown prince.”

Lazu opened his mouth to say something, but Carnelian interrupted him by reaching for another scar.

“And this.” Another, on Lazu's left side, a puncture wound, “from an assassin my uncle sent after me just a week after my coronation.”

“And this.” Another still, on Lazu's shoulder, “from my uncle in a council meeting, when the assassin failed and he'd decided to take matters into his own hands. I remember thinking you'd die with all the blood.”

“And then this.” This one, newer than the others, from when Lazu took a blow meant for Carnelian at the temple at Mistero.

“Because I've already forgiven you. And Coda didn't die that day because you saved him. And I didn't die, because you've been protecting me all these years.”

A pause, and then Carnelian rose to meet Lazu's gaze. Leaning in, close enough their foreheads touched, he added, “So when will you forgive yourself?”

Pulling away and picking up the blanket, Carnelian wrapped it around his shoulders once more. As he left the room, leaving Lazu to his thoughts, he said, “Come join me when you're ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to shout/scream/yell at me over on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/soymilkheaven)!


End file.
